The present invention relates in general to a data storage system, and pertains, more particularly, to a size configurable data storage system. In the disclosed embodiment described hereinafter, the invention is embodied in the form of a size configurable FIFO (first-in-first-out) storage buffer and including associated FIFO controls.
In computer systems and other data processing systems, it may be desirable to monitor large numbers of digital signals. One problem that has been encountered in carrying out this monitoring is that it is sometimes difficult to estimate the width and depth of the storage buffer that is required. This task is difficult at least in part because the decision as to the width and depth of the storage buffer is largely dependent upon the particular application.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved data storage system that overcomes the aforementioned problem by providing a storage buffer, the width and depth of which are configurable, so as to maximize effective use of the storage memory capacity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a size configurable memory storage system that is of relatively uncomplicated construction and which is implemented with minimal cost in comparison to the flexibility obtained.